Rise of the Titans: The Broken Hero (second version, being rewritten)
by SonOfZeus33
Summary: Jay thought he knew his fate. He thought he'd give his life to save everyone else. He couldn't have been more wrong! Believed to be dead he turns his back on the the world hoping to never return, but when history repeats itself he is thrust back into the conflict he tried so desperately to avoid. Can the Broken Hero save the world once more? Can he save himself?
1. Prologue

_Jay_

You may know other superero stories, with their parents telling them to hide their powers, conceal don't feel, all that stuff.

But that isn't my Story. In fact it's quite the opposite.

Well, first of all, I'm not a superhero.

Sure, I have powers, I save the world, I guess you could say I'm a superhero but I don't consider myself one.

I'm something else entirely, something better.

I'm a Demigod.

That's literally half a God and I'm more powerful than most.

I'm getting off track though.

I'm not a superhero, my story is way more tragic.

My parents may have loved me, well at least my father did, i never knew my mother, but he knew as well as I did that there was never a happy ending for me.

I was a warrior, a savior and ultimately a sacrifice.

That's what I was born to be and that's what I trained all my life to be, but I didn't let that bring me down.

I'd had a good life, a happy life. I had friends, family and most importantly my girlfriend, Lea.

You'd think I'd be more devastated to lose all of that, but having known all my life that I'd die young gave me more than enough time to prepare for it.

And I knew, today was the day.

Today was my day!

My name is Jay, son of Zeus, wielder of σχίζω-ἀστεροπή and heir of Olympus. And this is where my story ends, at least that's what I thought.

Me and Lea were standing at the bottom of Mount Othrys. The Titan Fortress was just above us. I could see Kronos staring down at us. He threw his Scythe like a boomerang but i quickly snatched Lea up and zapped away. We reached a path to the top of the mountain. The fact that there was an empty path should have thrown me off but my thoughts were elsewhere.

When we got to the top Kronos was gone. I didn't notice his presence until time literally slowed down. He jumped at me from behind but this time i was prepared. Chiron had told me what to do. I charged my fists up with as much electricity as I could and smashed it into the ground sending a schockwave into Kronos and unfortunately also Lea.

It did it's job though breaking Kronos time spell. I quickly activated σχίζωἀστεροπή to block a strike aimed at my head. I tried to attack but Kronos was swinging his Scythe wildly and I had to keep ducking, jumping and zapping away.

I internally smirked when I saw Lea standing up behind Kronos and preparing to stab him. I tried to distract him further by charging straight at him. To my suprise he didn't seem baffled, instead he was was smiling knowingly at me. That's when I realized he knew what was going on. I tried to scream, to warn Lea but he had placed me in his time spell once again.

I could only stand by and watch as Kronos swiftly turned around and tried to decapitate her. Luckily Lea was a better fighter than he had expected and blocked the strike with her shield. She kept that up, tiring Kronos out, but I knew it was only a matter of time before he would land a hit on her.

I felt the time spell fading but decided to wait for it to be completely gone to get the jump on him. That was the biggest mistake of my life. I saw Kronos feint a strike to her left, when she went to block he just dropped his Scythe into the ground. Using her confusion to his advantage, he summoned a dagger in his right hand and stabbed her right in the heart.

I saw her shocked face.

I saw her fall to the ground.

I saw Kronos kick her off the cliff.

I wanted to scream, but my throat was as dry as the desert. I wanted to jump after her but my body was frozen in place. I looked up to see Kronos smiling madly. Then I lost it. I lost control of my own body and was consumed by an aura of pure energy.

I never found out what happened. I heard Kronos had been banished to Tartarus again. I heard I had stopped the rise of the Titans. I heard that mount Othrys was shattered into a million pieces.

The only thing I know is that I died that day.


	2. A Savior Born In Darkest Times

**A/N Horizontal lines always mean end of flasback.**

 _Jay_

 _A Savior Born In Darkest Times_

Those were the first words I ever heard. Mortals can't remember their birth. Gods can. It's only fitting that I can remember some of it.

It was a sunny day, quite ironic given the supposed "darkest times". I could hear birds chirping outside, actually, they were more singing than chirping. I remeber seeing Apollo, he's the one who said It. Artemis and Ares were also there, as well as Dad and Mom. I should probably explain that. Obviously my mortal mother was there, but when I say Mom I'm usually talking about Hera. Unlike most children of Zeus, she actually liked me. Maybe it's because my Mother died giving birth and she had to raise me from day one, maybe it's just because, at the time, Zeus was still rather loyal to her. Either way she loved me like a son and I loved her like I would've loved my real mother. I remember Hermes flashing into the room with a nervous expression. He whispered something in my fathers ear. Zeus made a grim face and nodded, I think they all flashed out. Everything is blurry after that.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of birds. Birds seemed to be the only constant in my otherwise tragic and confusing life. Wherever I go, they're already there and when I leave they're still there. I stood up from the bunch of leaves I'd been sleeping on. I was wearing my usual white hooded bomber jacket with my grey cloth trousers. I picked my black backpack, which I had been using as a pillow, up from the ground, checked if my bottle was still there and put it on. I knew my bottle would always appear in the holder on the side, but I always checked just to be safe. I pulled up my hood and put my scarf over my mouth, like I always did. I was ready to go.

I looked around taking in all my surroundings. I hadn't got a good look at them last night after my fight with the Crocotta. I was in a forest. The trees were covered in snow and I could see the lights of a city in the distance.

I started my trek towards it but it was cut short when I heard a distant female voice yell "Get down!" I instinctively ducked but quickly realized she probably wasn't talking to me. I looked around to find the origin of her voice but couldn't find anything. Moments later I heard another voice: "Yield!" It was more of a roar, probably a monster. Then I saw them. There was a boy with boy with raven black hair and an orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, a punk looking girl with spiky black hair and a blonde girl with a New York Yankees cap in her left hand, definitely demigods. They were apparently protecting two confused looking young children, probably also demigods, from a Manticore. There was also a Satyr who was trying to trap the monster in plant vines but to no avail. "Never!" the punk girl yelled from across the field. She charged the monster, and for a second, I thought she would run him through. But then there was a thunderous noise and a blaze of light from behind them. A helicopter appeared out of the mist, hovering just beyond the cliffs. It was a sleek black military-style gunship, with attachments on the sides. The helicopter had to be manned by mortals.

The searchlights blinded her, and the Manticore swatted her away with its tail. Her shield flew off into the snow. Her spear flew in the other direction."No!" the boy ran out to help her. he parried away a spike just before it would've hit her chest. He raised my shield over them, but I could see it wouldn't be enough. The monster laughed. "Now do you see how hopeless it is? Yield, little heroes."

I could definitely see how hopeless it was. If I didn't interfere they were surely going to die. A hero would have saved them without a second thought, but I had left that life behind long ago. Why should I care if they died, they're demigods, their life isn't going to end well anyway. I haven't stayed in hiding for so long just to blow my cover now. And even if I did save them, the consequences of that action would kill them anyway. Then I remebered the little kids. They were so young, so innocent, they didn't deserve to die like this. Maybe I could swoop in, take out the monster and leave before anyone recognizes me. I decided that was the best option.

I took out my bottle and opened it. It quickly grew into my sword, σχίζω-ἀστεροπή. I started running faster and faster until I felt my body turn into lightning. I was there in a matter of seconds and ran straight through the Manticore hitting him with about one billion mythovolt, which would have killed most normal monsters. He screamed out in pain, but shook it off rather quickly and started shooting his thorns at me. I was standing at the edge of the cliff, right before the children, slicing through all the thorns before they could reach us. I shouted at the children "Run!" but they seemed to be frozen in place. I sighed, threw my Katana at the monster, grabbed the two children and zapped us away. I hid them behind a tree and wanted to turn back to the monster when I heard a hunting horn being blown.

The Manticore froze. For a moment, no one moved. There was only the swirl of snow and wind and the chopping of the helicopter blades. I cursed silently, "There goes my chance for swooping in without being seen" I thought. I watched as the Hunters took care of the monster splitting his thorns midair, like I had done seconds before with my sword. One of the older archers stepped forward with her bow drawn. She was tall and graceful with coppery colored skin. Unlike the other girls, she had a silver circlet braided into the top of her long dark hair, the lieutenant obviously.

"Permission to..." was as far as she got before the Manticore went charging at her. The Hunters shot their Arrows at him but the helicopter started shooting them forcing them to dodge and spread out. Artemis thrust out her hand, and the helicopter exploded into a flock of ravens, which scattered into the night. But it was too late, the monster had already grabbed the girl, turned on his heel and started running to the edge of the cliff. The blonde girl tried to stop him but he snatched her up with his tail and pulled her off the cliff with them.

Unlike last time I didn't hesitate and went charging off the cliff right after them. They were falling fast but I knew I could reach them if I used the wind to propel me downwards. I focused on the air, spun σχίζω-ἀστεροπή around and shot down at immense speed. I went right past the Manticore, slicing off his arm in the process. Since I was now below him, the huntress fell right into my arms, I just had to drop my sword to catch her. I looked around for the other girl but she was nowhere to be seen. With a heavy heart I floated up the cliff carrying the huntress bridal style, much to her annoyance.

When we reached the top off the cliff everyone had turned away from the cliff, probably mourning the loss of their friend or lieuteneant. Only the little boy who was jsut coming out of hiding noticed me and shouted "Look, it's Superman!" Everyone turned around and looked at me with shock and disbelief written on their faces. I landed carefully and the huntress jumped out of my arms before I could set her down.

Artemis, who had watched the whole thing with a bitter look was slowly walking towards me with an Arrow notched. I quickly bowed down

"My apologies, Lady Artemis, for touching your lieutenant but I saw no other way"

She seemed suprised but quickly regained her composure

"It is alright, by coming here and kneeling before me you have proven your pure intentions. Rise, young hero, tell me your name"

I knew there was no going back now. I slowly rose up and pulled down my hood and scarf. I saw Artemis eyes widen.

"My name is Jay, son of Zeus, wielder of σχίζω-ἀστεροπή, and heir and savior of Olympus, but my return puts this world in great danger."


	3. δικαιόσυνος

_Zoe_

We had set up our camp near a school in Maine. We were sent there by Zeus together with a group of Chiron's campers to retrieve two young demigods, brother and sister.

The campers had gone inside to try and get the demigods out. We were the backup plan. If anything went wrong we'd need to help them fight whatever monster is in there.

I spotted Thalia, Annabeth and the satyr running out the front door. The children weren't with them, meaning there was probably a monster inside which they were trying to lure into our crossheirs. If everything went according to plan, the monster would come chasing after them and we'd be able to open fire. Without a word, I signaled the hunters to get ready. Next to me Phoebe whispered "Something isn't right" I knew what she meant, that boy from camp was nowhere to be seen and the monster still hadn't shown it's face.

I heard something growl behind me. I turned around, expecting it to be one of our wolves, but instead I saw a pack of Hellhounds running our way. "It's a trap!" I yelled. The Hunters turned around letting their arrows fly. I saw Tracey, a newer hunter, get tackled by a hound but I quickly shot him down before he could do any real harm. She gave me a thankful nod and quickly resumed fighting. As I was distracted, a Hellhound had snuck up on me and pounced on me from the side. It knocked my bow out of my hand and tackled me to the ground. It was about to bite down on my neck but I managed to slit it's throut with my hidden blade. (like in Assassin's Creed)

As I pushed the beast off me and stood up I saw that the rest of the Hunters had taken care of the other hounds. Some were severely wounded, but most of us were unharmed or had only sustained minor injuries. Most importantly, we hadn't lost any of our sisters. What we had lost though was time. I turned to look at the school just in time to see Thalia sprinting away.

"We must help them. Those who can't fight, treat your wounds as best as you can, then try to help the others, those who still can, follow me!" I shouted. I heard some mutter in annoyance but they followed my orders nonetheless. I lead the remaining hunters in the direction I'd seen Thalia run. I saw the campers in a clearing up ahead. I also got my first look at the monster they were fighting. It was a manticore, a class 3 monster, but apparently too much for the campers to handle. The boy was standing over Thalia, trying to block the attacks with his shield, but it didn't look good for them. They'd probably be dead before we got there.

Suddenly the Manticore was hit by a huge bolt of lightning. It looked like an attempt from Zeus to save his daughter, but instead of coming down from the sky it had shot out of the forest. As we got closer, the lightning solidified into a boy wearing silver battle armor. A mask similar to that of a ninja covered his face. He wore a Katana holder on his back and a chestplate that seemed familiar to me. But the most interesting thing was by far his sword. The blade seemed to be made purely out of lightning and it was shaped like a Katana. He stood in front of the children, cutting through the spikes being thrown at them. Then, faster than one could blink, he threw his sword at the monster and zapped away with the children.

By now we had reached them and I blew the hunting horn, signalling our arrival. After a moment of silence the manticore became frightened and started shooting his spikes randomly into the forest. Injured as he already was we easily intercepted them midair and started piercing him with our arrows. When I saw he was defeated I held up my hand to stop the attack. I stepped out with my bow drawn, keeping my eyes on the Manticore.

"Permission to kill mil..." was as far as i got before the monster came charging at me. I fired and arrow straight at his chest but he seemed unfazed. Before the other hunters could open fire the mortal helicopter, which I had assumed wouldn't pay any attention to us, started raining down bullets on them and they had to spread out. Thus, the monster managed to grab me and started running towards the cliff. I noticed Annabeth putting on her invisibility cap to help me but before she could disappear the Manticore snatched her up up with his tail and threw himself her off the cliff with us.

As I was falling I thought this was the end. That I'd die falling off a cliff. I wasn't that sad about dying but I always wanted it to be in a forest, by my sisters side. As I was still mourning that I'd die in such a dishonorable way I noticed the strange boy taking a leap of faith after us. He transformed into lightning midair and went right through the Manticore tearing off it's arm in the process. I was freefalling for a few seconds before I felt a pair of arms grab me and we seemed to be going upwards.

Under usual circumstances I would've killed the boy for touching me but seeing as he was saving my life that seemed rather unfitting.I pushed aside these thoughts and instead found myself fascinated by the fact that we were soaring through the sky. When I was a child, I had always imagined sprouting wings and flying away from the garden, into the wilderness. When I looked around I saw a flock of ravens flying past us and plants growing on the side of the cliff. I also took a closer look at the boy, specifically his chestplate. When I read the inscription, δικαιόσυνος. I suddenly knew why it seemed familiar. It was mine! With my previous fascination gone, I wanted nothing more than to get away from this guy and that thing.

Luckily we had reached the top of the cliff and I jumped out of his arms before he could set me down. As I had expected, Artemis was coming at us with a grim look on her face and an arrow notched. To my suprise, before she had even revealed herself as the goddess, much less made any threats, the boy had already bowed down before her. "My apologies, Lady Artemis, for touching your lieutenant but I saw no other way" He said. She looked as suprised as I was, but quickly regained her composure "It is alright, by coming here and kneeling before me you have proven your pure intentions. Rise, young hero, tell me your name" He seemed to hesitate for a second, then he slowly rose up and pulled down his hood and scarf. For some reason, Artemis eyes widened.

"My name is Jay, son of Zeus, wielder of σχίζω-ἀστεροπή, and heir and savior of Olympus, but my return puts this world in great danger."

My mouth was agape, as were most of the other hunters. I thought he had to be lying. There was no way he was the heir or the savior of Olympus. But something made me want to believe him. The way he had said it, he seemed so empty, so hollow, like he didn't even care. There was not a hint of boast or even pride in his words. I was suprised to see a tear escape lady Artemis eye, but what happened next shook me to the core. She dropped her bow and went to hug the boy. I think some of the hunters fainted, some others drew their bows. The boy didn't return the hug but I think I saw the slightest hint of a smile grace his lips.

As I was still staring at the scene in front of me, I saw Lady Artemis turn around. "Zoe, have the hunters..." She started "are you listening Zoe?" I shook my head wildly trying to snap out of my trance and mumbled something like "Huh, what... yeah... no... sorry... could you please repeat?" She smiled. "Have the hunters return to our camp, provide the campers with visitor tents and have someone talk to the children. I have to take Jay to Olympus immediately, if I'm not back by tomorrow morning, Apollo wil come and take you to Camp Half-Blood."

I wanted to ask so many questions or at least protest about having to go to that wretched camp, but I knew I wouldn't be able to change her mind. Instead I just nodded, turned to the hunters and started bellowing out orders. I turned around just in time to see Artemis flashing away with the boy. Seconds after they had vanished a fist connected with my jaw.

"What was that back there princess?" Thalia spat with venom in her voice.

I wanted to hit her back but could stop myself seeing as she had just lost her friend, instead I asked "What was what? I wasn't planning to fall off the damn cliff, if that's what you mean, pinecone face"

"You were supposed to be our backup! We almost died back there!" She almost screamed.

"Well so did we! While you were inside dancing the night away we were ambushed by a pack of Hellhounds!" I spat back.

"So the mighty hunters couldn't handle a few doggies?"

I was about to spit out another argument when the son of Poseidon interrupted us "Shut up, both of you! What happened to Dr. Thorn, who is this Jay person and where the hell is Annabeth?!"

I was about to punch him for his disrespect, but Thalia caught my fist with her hand. "He got knocked out when the lightning struck Thorn, I would have too if I wasn't a daughter of Zeus." She said in a calmer voice.

"Fine!" I relented "But You're explaining this to him." I said pointing at her. "I'll have one of the hunters bring you your tents" I said, before walking away.

I needed some time to think. The chestplate the boy was wearing was part of the greatest mistake I'd ever made. Seeing it again had brought back bad memories, the fact that he was a son of Zeus didn't help. Still, I was curious how he'd got it. Probably a gift from his father, but I couldn't be sure. It was probably best not to think about it. After a few more minutes I noticed I had wandered off and decided to head back to our encampment. It was getting late anyway.


	4. Son Of Zeus

**A/N: Most people loved this chapter in the previous version, so I probably won't change much. Also, from now on, I'll be replying to all new reviews at the beginning of each chapter. (if I get any xD) So if you have any questions feel free to ask.**

 **AdmetoUltor14: Thanks! I hope you liked it, also I changed the summary :P**

 **Crafty: Thank you! :D**

 **williamjamsephillips: Thanks, but I don't think I'll focus on Percy's love life in this book. Don't worry though, there will be sequels! Also, the people in the character list are basically just the quest members. There'll be a different lineup for the next book.**

 **I forgot this at the start of the story, so I guess I'll say it now. There will be deaths in this story and also a torture scene, but I won't make it too graphic. I'll probably also put another warning at the start of that chapter.**

 _Jay_

Today was the day! Today was the winter solstice meeting and I'd finally get to see the Throne room. I had been up all night from excitement. Dad had told me some stuff about the council meetings but I never got to actually see one. But today I would and directly after that, I'd be introduced to my new teachers that would help me train to become the best hero ever!

As I was still daydreaming my father approached me. "Are you ready, son?" he asked. I could only nod excitedly. "Alright" he said and opened the Throne room doors. Most of the Gods were already there. I saw Hades talking to Poseidon, Artemis bickering with Apollo, Ares standing next to them, visibly amused. Mom was sitting in her Throne, overlooking the scene. As Apollo noticed me, he gave me a bright smile. I smiled back. My father slowly walked to the middle of the room. There stood a huge golden pedestal, no clue what for. "What's that for?" I asked my father. "You'll see" he replied. As he got closer to it, I noticed some of the gods quieting down. As Zeus reached the center, he grew to his godly height and slammed his Master Bolt into the pedestal. A huge bolt of Lightning shot up through the roof of the throne room into the sky. Within seconds the rest of the Gods flashed in. The seating pattern from left to right was: Hermes, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Uncle P, Dad, Mum, Demeter, Athena, Hephaestus, Aphrodite and Aunt Hestia. Between Hera and Demeter a makeshift Throne had risen from the ground. It was mostly made of skulls with diamonds and other treasures in their eye sockets. Some may have found it frightening but I thought it looked cool. Seated on it was Uncle Hades who gave me a crooked grin, showing his golden teeth. Between Zeus and Poseidon I could see a small white chair with lightning bolts engraved on it. I knew it was mine.

While it may have been the size of a normal garden chair, I still liked the think of it as my throne. As I sat down, I heard my father call out from about 20 feet above me "I hereby declare the 9th biannual Olympian council meeting opened!"

* * *

When we arrived on Olympus Artemis quickly hugged me again. "I'm so glad you're back Jay." she said before slapping me hard across the face. "But don't you dare disappear on me again! Do you even know how depressed I was when I thought you were dead." She said angrily. I looked down in shame, I truly did know. "How are you even alive?" she asked.

"I honestly don't know. It definitely isn't by choice. My guess is that Kronos somehow trapped me in time, seeing as I also don't age." I answered truthfully. Artemis was lost in thoughts for a second before she said "We should get going. There's more people who'll want to see you"

We walked towards the throne room doors. It had been ages since I had last seen them. This place was once my home now it's just a painful reminder of old life.

When the doors opened we could see Zeus talking to Poseidon about war preparations. They were so deep in conversation, they didn't even notice us entering the room.

We stood there for a while, waiting for one of them to notice us. After about five minutes Artemis had finally had enough and cleared her throat loudly to announce our presence to the two gods. When she did Zeus replied "Cant this wait daughter? As you can see we're quite busy at the moment." "I'm sorry dad but there's someone you need to see" Artemis said gesturing to me. "I doubt a mere demigod could be of such great importance" he started before I took out my sword, igniting it in the process, and hurled it into the map they were looking at.

My Fathers head shot up. Where did you find this, boy? He said taking the sword out and pointing it at me. Since we were on Olympus, the mist didn't cloud my appearence (not that it could have fooled Zeus anyway) and I was standing there in full battle armor. I didn't have to say anything, I saw it in his eyes that he recognized me.

"Jay, my son, how can you be alive" he stuttered.

"I don't know. Like I just told my sister, I believe I was cursed by Kronos. As far as I can tell, I'm essentially immortal"

The two gods just kept staring at me. Poseidon was the first to speak up "I better let you have your little family reunion. I'll be in my palace if you need me." he said before flashing out.

Zeus was still just staring at me blankly before shaking his head slowly "If you were alive all those years, why did you never reach out? Why do you choose now to return?"

"It was not my choice father. I had to stay in hiding, lost to the world for as long as possible. I had hoped forever, but with the Rise of the Titans recommencing it was only a matter of time. Now that I've returned, I'm ready to fulfill my destiny." I told my father and sister.

Helooked thoughtful for a minute before it seemed to click in his head "The Great Prophecy" he mumbled. I just nodded slowly.

"I've feared this day ever since the damn thing was made" My father said.

"do you not trust me to protect Olympus father?" I asked.

"That is not the point son. If it was about fighting I'd trust you with my life. You know I couldn't be more proud of you. But the prophecy speaks of a choice. Choices are different, unpredictable, you never know what's wrong and what's right. You never know which decision will result in which outcome. I wouldn't trust anyone, not even myself, to make such a choice." he replied thoughtfully.

"Have I ever disappointed you? I'm confident I'll make the right choice. And after that I'll be free. I'll finally see her again. I'll see all of them again. " I said with as much determination as I could muster.

Dad looked at me sadly "You've been gone for all these years and now that you have miraculously returned you're already planning to leave again? I can't say I like your decision but if it will make you happy I will support whatever you have in mind. But for now I want you to go to Camp Half Blood. You will travel with the hunters and campers from the rescue mission. Apollo will pick you up tomorrow morning. As for you Artemis, I fear our worst predictions have come true. I need you to start your hunt right after Apollo arrives to take the heroes to camp. I will have Hermes inform everyone of your return, Jay. Everything else will be discussed at the next council meeting. You are dismissed." He said.

We both bowed respectfully before flashing out.


	5. A Starry Night

**A/N: I have a tumblr now where I'll post pictures related to this story. It should be linkd on my Profile. (if I finally get the damn links to work)**

 **I forgot this last time, but criticism is of course also appreciated. Seriously write whatever you may think, I can take it.**

 **!WARNING! Rape will be heavily implied in this chapter, but it won't actually happen. If you think you can't handle that, just read after the horizontal line !WARNING!**

 _Zoe_

I was sitting on the cold hard floor at the bottom of the mountain. I could see the garden, my home, up ahead. But I knew I couldn't return there now. I could see his muscular frame walking down the street. He was the source of my misery, but for some reason I still cared about him.

I was so happy when he turned around. I thought he'd changed his mind and he'd take me with him. But as he got closer, I could see he looked different. His eyes were filled with lust. It terrified me. I wanted to run but he'd already reached me. He grabbed me with his huge hands holding me in place. I could still remeber his hungry eyes boring into me. I screamed as loud as I could. Then I woke up, still screaming and bathed in sweat. As my vision began to clear I could see the insides of my tent. It was just a dream.

* * *

I breathed in and out for a few seconds. "Just a dream!" I said with a sigh of relief. I opened up my tent and climbed out. I needed some fresh air. The sky was completely clear that night. I looked up at the stars trying to find the different constellations. I knew almost all of their stories. Whenever I'd had a bad dream as a child the stars could always take my mind off it. It didn't work that well nowadays, with all the pollution, but sometimes I got lucky.

I had been staring at the stars for about five minutes when a flash of light caught my attention. It was Lady Artemis who had returned with the boy. I slowly walked over to her.

"Zoe, still awake at this late hour?" she said.

"I couldn't sleep Milady" I answered.

She looked at me sadly, fully aware of what had been keeping me up at night. "Well, since you're already here, please follow me. We have much to discuss."

I nodded and followed her to her tent. Before I entered I turned around to see if the boy was also coming, but couldn't see him.

"He's not coming Zoe" Artemis said.

"It's not like I wanted him to" I mumbled. "Who is he anyway?"

"I believe he has already told you" she said.

"So he didn't lie" I replied thoughtfully. "But how?"

"The story is his to tell, the council has sworn an oath to never reveal it. But there are some things I can tell you. He's an ancient hero, even older than you Zoe. He is essentially just an ordinary demigod but he was trained to be one of the greatest warriors to ever walk this earth. But, for reasons I can't reveal, his power surpasses that of most minor gods. He was the hero of a great prophecy and when his time had come he gave his live to save us all. At least that's what we thought, but for an unknown reason he is still alive. That is all I can tell you." she finished.

I nodded slowly, I still didn't know much about him but I knew not to push my mistress if her mind was made up. I chose to change the subject. "Now that you're back, do we still have to go to camp" I asked, already fearing the answer.

"Unfortunately yes" she replied. "I was tasked to hunt some very powerful monsters in places I cannot bring you girls."

I groaned in frustration. "Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?" I asked.

"Actually, no, there is something else I need you to do, but you will not like it. I need you to keep an eye on Jay. He will not like staying at camp."

"That makes two of us" I mumbled.

She gave me a pointed look. "I'm serious, Zoe. He's emotionally unstable and has made some very bad experiences. I need someone to look out for him. I don't want him running off again. You are the only one I can trust with this." she finished.

I nodded quietly. "Very well, you may leave now." she said, dismissing me.

After climbing out of her tent, I was shocked to find a silver blade at my throat. I didn't have to look up to know who it was.

"Watch where you put that thing, boy" I spat at him. He seemed unfazed.

"What did she tell you" He asked in a calm but commanding voice.

"What do you mean" I answered, deciding to play dumb.

"You're her lieutenant, she trusts you. I don't"

"Why? Because my father is..." I started before mentally slapping myself. Luckily he didn't notice or didn't care.

"I don't trust anyone" he replied coldly.

I sighed in defeat. I was too tired to fight or argue with him on this so I just explained what Lady Artemis had told me about him, obviously leaving out the part about me babysitting him. When I finished he looked at me intently for another few seconds before visibly relaxing.

"Alright, I just needed to know" He said putting away his sword and offering me his hand to stand up. I obviously didn't take it and just jumped to my feet instead.

"I hope this doesn't change anything between us" he said not looking me in the eyes.

I was about to spit back a snarky reply when I remembered what Lady Artemis had said. When I looked at him I knew what she'd meant. He expected me to resent him now, to tell him how much of a worthless person he was. I used to have the same look on my face. I knew I was supposed to resent him for being a male and part of me did, but mostly I pittied him, maybe even related to him.

"It's alright," I said "you probably have your reasons"

He looked at me suprised. I think he might have smiled at me for a second, but he was wearing a mask so I couldn't be sure.

"Goodnight, Zoe" he said before disappearing into the shadows, leaving me alone under the starry sky.

 **A/N: I know it's short but I just really liked that ending.**


	6. New Moon

**A/N I just noticed the songs "Out Of Hell" by Skillet and "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" by ZAYN and Taylor Swift are perfect for Jay in this story. Also sorry if this chapter isn't as good. I just had an amazing idea for the 12th book in this series and I've been kinda preoccupied with that. The chapter name is _ NOT_ a twilight reference. **

_Bianca_

The punk girl had just finished telling us about this strange world of greek gods that we were apparently part I wouldn't believe her for one second but it did somehow make sense. Me and my brother had always seen things others couldn't. We've also been attacked quite often for our young age, something she said happened to demigods on a regular basis.

The auburn haired girl was apparently the moon goddess Artemis. Even though I had imagined a goddess to look more mature it made sense for her to be around 14, since she's the goddess of maidenhood and all that stuff. I hadn't really paid attention to that in school since I hadn't expected it to suddenly be real and super important for me.

When I asked who the lightning boy was she said she didn't know either. Always great when your teacher has no clue what she's talking about. It was all so confusing and I had a hard time wrapping my head around it.

Nico on the other hand was jumping up and down in excitement talking to the raven haired boy. I think he's called Peter Johnson but I wasn't sure. He was asking him all sort of stupid questions, like if he fought a lot with Thalia, since she was a daughter of Zeus? If Annabeth's mother was Athena, the goddess of wisdom, then why had she not known better than to fall off a cliff? If Annabeth was his girlfriend?

I was about to stop him when someone dropped down from the tree we were standing under. We all jumped in shock (except for Thalia) before we saw it was just the strange lightning boy.

"Sorry," he said "Are you two fine" he asked turning to me and Nico.

I thought it was a stupid question seeing that our whole world had just been turned upside down. I nooded anyway.

"That's good. I don't like to see innocent people getting hurt. My name is Jay by the way, you might not have caught that yesterday with everything that was going on." he told us.

"Bianca Di Angelo and this is my brother Nico." I said pointing at Nico "Don't you have a last name?" I asked curiously.

"When I was born there was no such thing as last names."

"That doesn't make any sense. You're like 15. My mother was older than that and she also had a last name" Nico blurted out.

"Shhh Nico, he might be a god." I said hoping he hadn't pissed him off

"I can assure you I'm not a god, but I've been alive for thousands of years. It's complicated, it'd just confuse you even more." He replied calmy.

I was already confused. Nico however seemed unfazed and started bombarding him with questions too. "Are you from Krypton, since you can fly? How many hit points do you have and is that a Lightsaber?"

Jay said something like "Ehm..." which seemed really out of character for him. Before he could say anything else, the girl with the tiara came up to us.

"Bianca Di Angelo"

She had dark brown eyes and a slightly upturned nose. With her silver circlet and her proud expression, she looked so much like royalty that I had to resist the urge to sit up straight and say "Yes, ma'am."

"Come with me," she said. "Lady Artemis wishes to speak with you."

Zoe led me to the last tent, which looked no different from the others, and waved me inside. Seated there was the auburn-haired girl, who I still had trouble thinking of as Artemis.

The inside of the tent was warm and comfortable. Silk rugs and pillows covered the floor. In the center, a golden brazier of fire seemed to burn without fuel or smoke. Behind the goddess, on a polished oak display stand, was her huge silver bow, carved to resemble gazelle horns. The walls were hung with animal pelts: black bear, tiger, and several others I didn't recognize. I figured an animal rights activist would've had a heart attack looking at all those rare skins, but maybe since Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, she could replenish whatever she shot. I thought she had another animal pelt lying next to her, and then I realized it was a live animal—a deer with glittering fur and silver horns, its head resting contentedly in Artemis's lap.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't figure out how all this fit into a simple pup tent.

"Sit down Bianca." she said.

I sat across from her on the tent floor. The goddess studied me, which made me uncomfortable. She had such old eyes for a young girl.

"Are you surprised by my age?" she asked.

"Uh… a little."

"I could appear as a grown woman, or a blazing fire, or anything else I want, but this is what I prefer. You may have noticed that all of my hunters seem to be around this age, but most of them are actually way older. My hunters don't age. They can only die if they fall in battle. That is what I wanted to talk to you about. I would like to offer you a place in my hunt. Aside from immortality, I can offer you a life free of responsibility and a new family with us." she told me.

I was about to just accept right away. A live free of responsibility and a new family! That had been my dream for so long. I always had to be the big sister, sometimes even like a mother to nico. I loved him but it was exhausting. Then I remembered that the gods weren't always the nicest people in the myths. So instead I said "What's the catch?" trying to sound smart but also praying I hadn't offended her.

"You have to swear an oath to me. To foreswear romantic love forever, to never grow up, never get married. To be a maiden eternally."

"That's it? But what about Nico? He can't join us, right?" I asked.

"Certainly not," Artemis agreed. "He will go to camp. Unfortunately, that's the best boys can do. You can see him from time to time and he'll have the camp counselors to take care of him."

I thought about it for a second. I really wanted this, but could I really leave Nico alone? All my life I'd had to care for him, every decision I made was for him. Maybe this was my reward for all of that. I knew It was selfish, but I'm not perfect, I'm only human after all.

"What do I have to do?" I asked.

"Say this," Zoe told me, "I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis."

"I… I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis."

"I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood, and join the Hunt."

I repeated the lines. "That's it?" Zoe nodded. "If Lady Artemis accepts your pledge, then it is binding."

"I accept it." Artemis said.

The flames in the brazier brightened, casting a silver glow over the room. I seemed to absorb the light into my chest. I felt it spreading into my body, coursing throug my veins. Overwhelmed with power I dropped to a kneeling position. I bowed my head and closed my eyes. As I felt the light dying down, I slowly opened my eyes. When I did, I felt them lighten up in the shape of a moon, shining in a bright silver light. **(A/N I'll post a picture of how I imagined this to look on tumblr)** Zoe and Artemis were completely silent.

"Does this... does this always happen" I asked confused, but I could tell from the looks on their faces that it didn't.


	7. Daughter Of Zeus

_Thalia_

We were standing at the cliff waiting for Apollo to arrive. He was supposed to take us and the hunters back to Camp Half Blood since Artemis was going on a solo mission to hunt some ancient monster.

I still didn't understand why the Hunters had to stay at camp. Couldn't they like hunt alone for a while? Or are they actually as immature as they look? And now they've convinced Bianca to join their stupid little group. I bet that was Zoe's fault. Let me tell you one thing about Zoe Nightshade, she may look like an overgrown girl scout but she ain't bringing anyone cookies.

At least now I'd have a brother at camp. I'm usually not the most social person, but he seems pretty cool. He had my electric blue eyes and that awesome ninja/samurai outfit. He wore a steel plated armor on his legs and arms, like you'd expect to see on a knight and a bright silver chestplate with some inscription engraved on it. On his back he wore one of those Katana holders you always saw in movies with a light blue cape attached to it. His face was covered by a silver ninja mask with the shape of an eagle on his forehead. All in all it looked pretty badass, aside from the fact that it was silver and not black. I'd have to ask him where he got it later.

I saw the Sun appearing on the horizon announcing Apollo's arrival. As he got closer, Artemis advised us to cover our eyes. For a second, I felt myself enveloped in the light and filled with warmth and comfort. Then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone again.

I opened my eyes to see the Sun God standing in front of a yellow Chevrolet Camaro. He had sandy hair and glowing yellow eyes. His smile was bright and playful. His outfit included jeans and loafers and a sleeveless T-shirt saying "Girls just wanna have Sun", which took on a whole new meaning when he wore it. All in all he looked pretty hot. Too bad he was my brother.

"Need a ride Ladies" he said flirtatiously. Artemis rolled her eyes at her twin.

"You know the rules Apollo, You do not help my Hunters. You do not look at, talk to or flirt with my Hunters. And how exactly are they supposed to fit into that thing?"

Apollo raised his hand and opened his mouth to say something but Artemis quickly interrupted him:

"They're not sitting on your Lap!"

I could see in his eyes that that was exactly what he was going to say.

"fine" he mumbled and transformed the Camaro into a yellow school bus.

I heard Nico mumble something about Transformers being real too.

"Now where is my favorite Demigod?" Apollo asked. "Probably hiding in the trees again."

Just as he said that, Jay stepped out from behind us. No clue how he'd gotten there without me noticing.

"There you are! I never believed ol' grandpa could've taken you out. But seriously, next time you pull something like this you better call me! Anyway, It's great to see you again!"

"It's good to see you too" Jay said in his usual deep and cold voice.

"Of course it is! Still in your ninja phase, I see. I'll give you some fashion advice on the way. And you can tell me all about your great adventures."

"Come on, everyone get in, Jay's driving" he said with a bright grin. The Hunters all rolled their eyes but got in anyway, squeezing into the back of the bus. Bianca was with them leaving her brother alone with us. After that Percy, Nico Grover and I got into the front part of the bus. Jay and Apollo, who had been talking to Artemis, got in last.

Outside I could see Artemis kneel and touch the ground as if looking for tracks. When she rose, she looked troubled. She sprinted toward the woods and melted into the snow and shadows. I started to wonder what they'd been taking about, but my thoughts were interrupted by Nico who shouted:

"This is so cool!", jumping up and down in his seat. "Is this really the sun? I thought Helios and Selene were the sun and moon gods. How come sometimes it's them and sometimes it's you and Artemis?" He asked Apollo.

"Downsizing," he said. "The Romans started it. They couldn't afford all those temple sacrifices, so they laid off Helios and Selene and folded their duties into our job descriptions. My sis got the moon. I got the sun. It was pretty annoying at first, but at least I got this cool car."

Suprisingly Jay was actually a good driver. He looked to be around 16, so he shouldn't even have a driver's license. Then again I didn't really know anything about him. I could only imagine what it would have been like if I had been driving. Not that I couldn't drive, I bet I could drive a normal car, but I'm like seriously afraid of heights.

I tried to listen to what Jay and Apollo were talking about, trying to find out more about my mysterious brother. Sadly, he didn't seem too keen on telling the God of Poetry any of his secrets, or talking at all for that matter. We reached Camp Half Blood after about half an hour.

"Everyone get out, come on, chop chop!" Apollo said after we'd landed. "I can't stay in one place for long or the old Air Head will get mad at me for messing with his precious time zones again."

I heard thunder in the distance.

"Alright, jeez, I'm sorry, calm down!" He shouted at the sky.

"You see, I gotta go" he said hopping into the sun chariot which had somehow transformed back into the camaro.

"Watch out for those prophecies, Jay. I'll see you soon."

"What's new?" Jay replied coldly.

Apollo grinned at him and started his engines

"Later, Thalia," he called. "And, uh, be good!" Then he took off into the sky in a flash of light.

"Show-off" Zoe mumbled. "Nice job scaring him off though." She said looking at Jay out of the corner of her eye.

He smiled ever so slightly, but it was gone before anyone (except for me) could notice it.

"Tell Chiron we'll be in cabin eight." Zoe called out before leading the hunters away.

Shortly after we made our way over to the Big House. It was decorated with strings of red and yellow fireballs that warmed the porch but didn't seem to catch anything on fire. Inside, flames crackled in the hearth. The air smelled like hot chocolate. Mr. D and Chiron were playing a quiet game of cards in the parlor.

He smiled when he saw us. "Grover! Percy! Thalia! Jay, Hermes has informed me of your return. And this must be—"

"Nico di Angelo," Percy said. "He and his sister are half-bloods."

Chiron breathed a sigh of relief. "You succeeded, then."

"Well…"

His smile melted. "What's wrong? And where is Annabeth?"

That's when it hit me again. Annabeth, my best friend was gone. I'd been trying to forget about it the entire day. Keep my mind occupied with other things. My usual way of dealing with grief. But now I had to stop myself from breaking down and crying. Something I'd sworn to msyelf to never do.

"Oh, dear," Mr. D said in a bored voice, "Not another one lost."

I was about to jump up and strangle him, well verbally, but still. Luckily Jay beat me to it.

"Who the hell is this greenhorn."

"Careful, kid" Mr. D said, slowly removing his sunglasses. He seemed to try to look menacing, but his neon orange leopard-skin warm-up suit and his purple running shoes kind of undermined his credibility.

Jay seemed completely unfazed. They stared intently at eachother, looking to have a battle with their minds for few seconds before Chiron stepped in.

"Mr. D this is Jay, he's an ancient Hero, I'll tell you about him later. Jay this is Mr. D, as we refer to him here in camp. He's the god of grape-harvest, wine, madness, parties, ecstasy and theater."

He took a short break, like he expected them to say "Hi, nice to meet you." They obviously didn't, so Chiron just kept going.

"Grover, would you mind taking the young boy to the den and showing him our orientation film."

After they'd left, Ciron told us to sit down and tell him exactly what happened.

When we were done he was in thought for a few seconds.

"You are sure Annabeth is still alive?"

"As of yesterday, yes. If they haven't killed her by now it is safe to assume that they need her fo something." Jay answered.

Chiron thought for another short while.

"Alright, I will set up a council meeting for tomorrow. There we will decide what to do. Percy you are dismissed. Thalia, I need to speak to Jay in private for a moment, would you please wait here. I nodded. They went inside to talk.

Although I didn't want to, curiosity got the better of me and I snuck after them. Luckily Mr. D had fallen asleep.

"I'm glad to hear you have returned." I heard my teacher say. "You know how history repeats itself and I feared if the Tians started to rise again we might not be prepared. But now that you're back we might stand a fighting chance. There's something I can't get my head around though. When we thought you died, back on Mount Othrys, Hades said that your soul was shattered into millions of pieces. How can you be alive?

I heard Jay replying, but what he said didn't make any sense.

"I've recently bought an aquarium. Do you have any fish food around here?"

Chirons reply confused me even more.

"Do you prefer your steak cooked or grilled?"

There was a short moment of silence, before I heard footsteps coming towards me. I quickly ran outside and sat down, trying to look like I'd been there the whole time. Chiron came trotting out of the the house, now in Centaur form.

"Thalia will you please show your brother around?" he asked me. "sure!" I said. "come on, bro"

Jay visibly rolled his eyes, but I didn't really care. I was just trying to annoy him anyway. I showed him everything, starting with the volleyball courts, over to the amphitheater, then to the climbing wall and through the dining pavilion into the forest. We made a short stop at Zeus Fist. Most demigods wouldn't dare to sit on top of it, but I thought as two children of Zeus we'd be fine. Jay hadn't said anything during the tour, so I decided to just ask him.

"So, what did you think?"

"It's good." was his short reply.

"Can you be a little less passive, I mean this is some pretty cool stuff."

"What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to tell you how awesome all this is, how cool it is that the gods are real, and how excited I am about everything?"

"That seems to be a pretty standard reaction, yeah."

"I grew up on Olympus, Thalia, 200000 years ago."

"You always have such a monotone voice, I can never tell when you're making a joke."

"I haven't made a single joke since I got here, maybe aside from the little thing with Apollo."

"See, there I thought Zoe was just kidding."

"Zoe doesn't seem like the type who kids about anything"

I looked at him for a second. He wasn't wearing his mask for once. I would've taken the time to examine his face, but I didn't want to stare.

"You're really serious about all this? That you're the heir of Olympus and all that stuff?"

"That's what I've been saying."

"Ok...wow... but how?"

"It's an honorary title, really. Zeus is immortal, so the leadership will never naturally pass to me and if someone overthrows him, I'm pretty sure that person will take the throne for himslef and not give it to me. Adittionally, since I'm just a demigod and was going to die anyway, it wasn't really going to have an effect in the long run."

"Yeah, about that, if you really are just a demigod and were born 200000 years ago, how are you still alive?

"If I got to live an extra year everytime I was asked that question, that would explain it"

I guess he did make jokes, maybe he just didn't notice.

"I honestly don't know." he said.

"Then what about Olympus? Why'd you get to grow up there?"

"That's a long story"

"Well, I've got time."

"Maybe one d..." he started but then cut himself off mid-sentence. He was quiet for a second. If i didn't know any better, I'd say he was mentally slapping himself.

"We should go" he said standing up, not leaving any room for argument.

"Alright..." I said.

The rest of the tour was again filled with awkward silence, excpet for some remarks by me like "there's the stables", "here's the arena" and stuff like that.

I decided to end the tour in the cabin area, more specifically, at the Zeus cabin.

"Well, here it is. Make yourself at home. It's just the two of us and we've got the biggest cabin in camp." I said as I opened the door. He just nodded and went to the bed in the back right corner of the room.

"Oh come on now, I thought we were friends." I shouted after him.

"I'm dangerous Thalia, I can't afford having friends." he replied coldly. He mumbled something else like "...just end...kill...anyway" but I didn't really care.

"Fine, be that way." I said angrily. This whole brother-sister thing was gonna be a lot harder than I thought. And we hadn't even gotten to my problems yet...

 **A/N: This was the longest chapter so far, I think I deserve some reviews for that. I mean you must have thought something while reading this, I'd really like to know what that was. :D**


	8. Dreams

**A/N:** _ **Please take the time to read the A/N, especially if you care about pairings.**_

 **replies:**

 **the black wolf in the mountain: Thanks! I've actually been told this a lot and I'm constantly trying to improve that. :D**

 **Guest: I wasn't going to reveal this originally, but it seems to be really important to some people so here we go.** _ **Spoilers ahead! You've been warned!**_ **The main pairing will be Jay x Zoe with occasional Jay x Lea in the flashbacks. As for the other characters, I think I'll go for the standard Percy x Annabeth, Jason x Piper, Frank x Hazel, etc. I might do Bianca x Thalia, if I don't end up killing them off. Maybe also Leo x Thalia. I'm also thinking about Luke x Reyna, but again Luke might die. I'll also do something with Artemis and another god in the flashbacks, but I can't tell you which one since that'd be to big of a spoiler. You should know that, except for Jay x Zoe and Artemis x ?, I'm not married to any of these so if I get an amazing suggestion I might end up doing that. Also definitely suggest pairings for the characters I didn't mention.**

 _Jay_

"The great stirring is already underway, the mightiest monsters are rising. We need to start hunting them now or it may be too late! In the first Titan war many of these monsters almost brought about the downfall of Olympus, we cannot make the same mistake twice." Artemis pleaded.

"Yet the threat of these creatures still pales in comparison to the threat the Titans will pose once they break out of their prisons. If we allow ourselves to be distracted by these monsters we inevitably shift our attention from the bigger problems. What you are proposing may be exactly what our enemies want!" The goddess of wisdom countered.

"I stand with Athena," Hephaestus said "we need to focus our attention on the larger problems at hand. As I've mentioned before, the storm giant Typhon is stirring, we need to prepare for his arrival now or this war may be over before it has really begun!"

"The most important thing is that..." Poseidon begun but he was interrupted when the trone room doors burst open. A defeated looking Hermes, who had so far been absent from the meeting, came running in panting heavily.

"He's here! He's out!" was all he said before collapsing in the middle of the room.

* * *

I woke up in the middle of the night. I hadn't been able to fall asleep for a while, when I finally did, I had been plagued by nightmares. It was the same dream I always had. My old team, my friends, screaming as they saw their death coming, unable to run. Then their faces would freeze. They'd stare at me with their horrified expressions, whispering: "You did this to us!" "This is you fault!" "Why didn't you save us?" "Why did you let us die?" Sometimes they'd say even worse things.

But something was different this time. There was a new face among them, a new voice. I felt like I should know who it was, but I just couldn't quite place it.

I heard snoring coming from the other end of the cabin.

After a few seconds it hit me like a tidal wave, it had been Thalia! She was the new face! I knew I'd let myself get too close to her yesterday. All the years I've spent trying to shut myself off from my emotions, yet as soon as I return I immediately fall back into my old habits. I guess what they say is true, people don't change. I had only known her for one or two days, but the way she talked, her innocent curiosity had reminded me so much of Pleioa, only that Thalia was actually my little sister. I had noticed this yesterday so I'd pushed her away. I could see how much it had hurt her, it had hurt me the same way, but I knew it was necessary. What I told her was true, I'm dangerous. I had to keep her at arms length to protect her and also to protect myself. I couldn't go through this again.

I decided I had to get some fresh air, to clear my head. I wouldn't be able to fall asleep again anyway. I headed out of the cabin. The camp was completely quiet, aside from the chirping of crickets. The sky was clear, due to the magical borders, yet for some reason the moon didn't shine as bright as the night before. As I wandered around, I thought I heard someone sobbing. I kept walking thinking I was just imagining things. A few moments later I heard it again, more clearly this time. It seemed to be coming from the beach. As I slowly made my way over there, I could see a young boy sitting there staring at the ocean, lost in thought. I kept walking in his direction, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Can't sleep either?" I called out.

He jumped in suprise and turned around.

"Oh, it's just you" he said turning back to the sea.

"How'd u know I couldn't sleep?" he asked.

"Because you're up at 3 am staring at the ocean."

"Yeah, I guess that makes it pretty obvious." He said smiling a little, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Bad dream?" I asked.

"It's about Annabeth..."

"The blonde girl? I'm so sorry I couldn't save her, she was gone before I got there, I... I don't know what happened."

"I don't blame you, at least you tried, you didn't even know her yet you jumped off a cliff after her."

I didn't know how to respond so I didn't say anything and just sat down next to him. After a moment of slience he spoke up again.

"In my dream she was on a dark hillside, shrouded in fog. There was no sky, just darkness above her. She could barely walk, yet she managed to push herself up to the top of the hill. Kneeling on top of it was Luke. He was crumpled on the rocky ground, trying to rise. The blackness seemed to be thicker around him, fog swirling hungrily. His clothes were in tatters and his face was scratched and drenched with sweat. He called out to Annabeth, begged her to help him. He may have been a traitor to the rest of us, but to Annabeth he was still the boy who had protected her as a child. She hesitated for a second, but as the ceiling was about to crush him she came to his aid taking the burden for him. As soon as she had, Luke rolled out from under it and left her there. She was pleading, begging him to help her as it crushed her but he didn't care. He just left her there to die!"

The more he had told me, the more he had started crying. I knew what he was going through but I had no clue how to react. He turned to me, still sobbing

"The quest... tomorrow... if I'm not chosen... you're like really powerful, right? You can go... please... you have to go... you have to save her! Promise me you'll save her!" He pleaded.

I hesitated for a second, I didn't know if I could keep such a promise, but I knew if I said no it would crush him.

I sighed, "Of course, I'll save her... I promise."

"Thank you!" he said.

We sat in silence for a short while. I thought about what he had told me. There were only two places that seemed to match his discription, and with what he mentioned about Annabeth holding up the ceiling on a hill, I could only really think of one place. I shot up, I had to talk to Chiron right now! I was about to go when I remembered Percy still sitting there. I turned to him once again.

"If you want my advice, don't fall for her too hard. Love is a privilege we demigods don't have, especially in times like these." Then I ran off.

I got to the Big House as fast as I could without zapping there, that would've been too loud. When I got there I was suprised to see Zoe Nightshade already standing there arguing with Argus about something. I came to a halt next to them.

"What are you doing here, boy?" Zoe asked angrily.

"What are you doing here?" I shot back.

"I need to talk to Chiron, but this boil-brained lout won't let me in." She said punching him in the chest, but not one of his eyes even blinked. I pushed myself between them.

"Let me handle this" I said to Zoe.

"Argus let us in!"

He just shook his head.

I sighed exasperated. "As the heir of Olympus I demand you to let us pass."

He looked suprised for a second, then slowly moved to the side letting us in.

"I didn't need your help, boy." Zoe said as we went in.

"I know you didn't, but I didn't want you to give him a black eye, much less ten." I said.

"Can't an old centaur get some sleep?" Chiron asked tiredly, trotting down the stairs.

"Chiron, I believe Luke has taken the sky from Atlas to set him free." I started.

"He then procceded to capture Lady Artemis..." Zoe cut in.

"...while Luke convinced Annabeth to take the sky for him." I interrupted her

"Artemis then took the sky from her, as she couldn't stand seeing a young maiden hurt." Zoe finished.

As Chiron still tried to comprehend what had just happened, I started to realize what Zoe had just said. Artemis had been captured and she was now trapped under the sky. The Situation was far worse than I had anticipated. Chiron finally seemed to come to his senses.

"How do you even know this?"

"I had a dream." Zoe said.

"So did Percy." I added.

"Alright... Alright, what exactly happens in these dreams"

Zoe told him how in her dream Artemis was kidnapped by a tall man and how she then took some burden from Annabeth. I told him exactly what Percy had told me about his dream.

"So from the clues and context you both deduced that Atlas has gotten out and Artemis is now holding the sky?"

"Well actually, I kinda figured that out as we were talking." Zoe said. I nodded in agreement.

"Ok, well, either way there's not enough evidence to send out an emergency quest now. We'll discuss this tomorrow at the council meeting."

"That's stupid! We can't waste any time! You need to let me take the hunters to find her!" Zoe protested loudly.

"Rushing in now without a plan will only get you killed. We decide what to do tomorrow at the council meeting. This decision is final!" Chiron declared. Zoe huffed in frustration before storming out.

The next day at breakfast I wasn't really up for anything. My sister had been kidnapped, probably trapped under the sky and I was supposed to sit here and enjoy breakfast. I should be out there saving her! I noticed Thalia looking at me curiously.

"Whatcha thinking about?" She asked.

"Nothing" I replied, shoving some food into my mouth so that I had an excuse not to talk.

"If something's wrong you can tell me. I'm your sister remember?"

I debated if I should tell her. She was already in the dream, I guess it was too late anyway, but being close to me would still put her in danger. I decided not to tell her about last night, but I still felt like I owed her an apology.

"I'm just... sorry for being a jerk yesterday. I just can't let myself get close to people again. Family, friends, they all make me vulnerable. I guess... life is just so much easier if I only have to worry about myself."

"I might be overstepping a line here, but you don't seem to be handling life very well."

"No, you're right, I'm not, but at least I'm not pulling anyone else down with me."

"You know, I thought like you once. When an old friend of mine, Luke, betrayed us to the Titans, it hurt me, badly. The fact that he betrayed me was bad enough, but the worst part was that, because of it, I was scared that all my friends would hurt me like he did. So I tried to push them all away. Luckily, they didn't let me, I don't know what kind of person I'd be today if they had. In the end, they were what pulled me out of it. I guess what I'm trying to say is, friends may make you vulnerable, from time to time, but they also make you stronger."

"I wish that was true, but having seen so much death, having caused so much death, it's just hard to believe that I can still be saved. Everytime you see a friend die, everytime you kill someone, you lose a part of yourself. After being alive for 200000 years I don't know if there's anything left. People talk about immortality like a goal, something they want to achieve, but I know the truth. It's a curse!"

Thalia was quiet after that, obviously not knowing how to reply. Luckily for her, she didn't have to since loud gasps suddenly erupted from all around us. As I looked around, I saw a mummified corpse slowly making her way to the Artemis table. It passed by most of the hunters before stopping in front of a confused looking Zoe.

"I am the spirit of Delphi," the corpse said "speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, Seeker and ask."

Zoe swallowed. "What... What must I do to help my goddess?"

Green mist poured out of the Oracle and filled the entire dining area. In the middle you could see a girl, probably Artemis kneeling, seemingly trying to stop something from crashing down on her, visibly in pain. It looked just like what Percy had told me, just with Artemis instead of Annabeth.

 _Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,_

 _One shall be lost in the land without rain,_

 _The silver eyed sister shows the trail,_

 _Campers and Hunters combined prevail,_

 _The Titan's curse must one withstand,_

 _And one shall perish by a parent's hand._

Then the Oracle just collapsed on the ground and the mist slowly dissipated, revealing many confused campers and a worried looking Chiron.

"The council meeting begins now!" was all he said before running off to the Big House.

The council meeting was probably the most unorganized mess I've ever seen. Everyone was shouting their opinions into the room, not regarding anything that had been said before. The fact that it was being held at a Ping Pong table didn't help.

Chiron stomped his hoof on the ground, trying to quiet them down, after another 30 seconds or so, they finally did. Zoe took that as her chance to speak up:

"This is pointless. There is no time for talk. Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately!"

"That won't work, the prophecy clearly stated that only five people can go. Furthermore it said that 'Campers and Hunters combined prevail' so you'll need our help." Thalia argued.

Zoe grimaced, she'd never admit it but I could see Thalia had scored a point. She knew how dangerous it would be to upset a prophecy.

"Fine, I'm willing to take two campers and three hunters"

"Mathematically speaking, there's about three campers for every hunter so logically it should be three campers and two hunters." Malcolm, from the Athena cabin, reasoned.

"One hunter is also stronger than three campers, and it's our goddess we're trying to save!" Zoe shot back.

"How about a compromise then?" I said from the corner of the room. My voice had that commanding edge to it that made everyone shut up and listen. I must've gotten that from my father. As everyone turned around to look at me I continued.

"It's simple, each of you provide two people that are sent on the quest. I'll join as the fifth member since I'm neither camper nor hunter."

They all seemed to be fine with that, or maybe they just didn't dare to question me. All except Zoe, who seemed to be debating something in her head.

"Fine," she finally said. "But under one condition."

I looked at her expectantly.

"I get to choose which campers join us." she demanded.

"That sounds fair."

"Alright, I'll take Clarisse and Thalia from camp and Bianca from the hunters."

Bianca looked shocked for a second but quickly regained her composure.

"I accept." She said pridefully.

"So do I." Clarisse said.

"I guess I'm in too." Thalia muttered.

"Then it is settled," Chiron said "You will leave in one hour."

 **A/N: I hope that was long enough. Probably not, but it's still a personal record. Can I get some more reviews please? :P**


	9. Broken Prophecy

_Zoe_

We had left exactly one hour after the council meeting. Luckily everyone had been on time. I think I would've ripped someone's head off if I'd had to wait any longer. We'd decided to drive in shifts and Jay had insisted on taking the first one. I'd told him to drive to Washington D.C. trying to sound confident but in all honesty I had no clue where to go either. "Go west to the Goddess in chains" weren't exactly the most precise directions. Since there wasn't anything to do I decided it would be best to get some sleep.

In my dream I was sitting at the bottom of the mountain again. Everything happened like it always did up to the point where he would grab me with his huge hands, his hungry eyes boring into me. That's when the dream would stop, but this time it didn't. In my futile attempts to fend him off I accidentally touched the inscription on my chestplate, which he was now wearing. It glowed in a bright silver light, blinding both of us. Then out of nowhere Hercules was struck by something and knocked out. I knew this had never happened originally but as I saw it unfold in the dream I felt like it had. I could almost remember it. It was really weird.

With that thought still in mind I slowly woke up. I blinked a couple times to clear my vision, then I remembered where I was. I was on the bus with the quest going to Washington D.C. We had to save Artemis, from my father presumably, and Jay was driv... was sitting next to me! What the Hades! I quickly sat up straight and moved away from him.

"I take it you're awake." he said in his monotone voice **(A/N: Idk if monotone is the right word to descibe it, if you ever wondered what it sounds like, look up Adrian Chase scenes from Arrow)**

"I would've woken you up but I had a feeling you would have ripped my head off"

"You're damn right I would have."

He seemed to notice me scooting further away from him.

"Sorry, you need you huntress-space, I forgot." He apologized, moving to the seat on his right.

"It's fine" I mumbled. It really wasn't but I was still too tired to argue.

"What are you even doing here?" I said, trying to change the subject.

"I need to talk to you."

"About what?" I asked suspiciously.

"Two things actually. First of all, you don't actually know where we're going, right?"

"Of course I do. Mount Othrys, where Atlas used to hold the sky."

"And where is that currently?"

I looked down in defeat.

"I'm not sure," I said. "I was kinda hoping Bianca would know."

"That brings me to my second question, why did you even bring her on the quest? She's completely new to all of this."

" _The silver eyed sister shows the trail_ " I said thoughtfully.

"That's her?"

I nodded slowly.

"Hey, Zoe, it's your turn to drive" Thalia called out.

As I went to the front of the bus, I thought about what Jay had said. As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. If Bianca wasn't going to lead the way I'd have to come up with a better way than just following my instincts.

We reached Washington after about another hour of driving. Not knowing where to go yet, I told the others to get lunch while I scouted the area. In all honesty though, I wasn't planning on doing much scouting. I felt like I just needed to clear my head and I'd get an idea of where to go.

As I was walking around I noticed two Dracaenas heading into the Museum of Natural History. I decided to follow them to see what they were up to. They went through a huge chamber full of mastodons and dinosaur skeletons with a balcony ringing the second level. There were voices up ahead, coming from behind a set of closed doors. Two guards stood outside. They opened the doors for the two and quickly closed them after they had entered. That was going to be a problem.

I could've easily taken them out with my bow but that would have blown my cover. I knew I'd have to find another entrance. As I looked around, I saw a window on the left balcony, which would at least let me see what was going on in the room. I headed for the elevator on my left and pressed the button for the second floor. Inside "A Sky Full Of Stars" by Coldplay was playing. I had always liked the song, but I couldn't think about it now. The elevator opened with a ding and I quickly sprinted out and ran to the window, hoping to not have missed anything important.

I could see a huge round room just like this one. At least a dozen mortal guards stood on the balcony, plus the two Dracaenae I had followed.

But that wasn't the worse of it. Right between them I could see my father, the Titan Atlas, sitting on a chair looking down at someone. There was no more doubt now, the next rise of the Titans was upon us.

He seemed to be talking to someone in the middle of the room, but I couldn't see who it was. My father shifted his attention to Luke for a second then he climbed on the railing and leapt down from the balcony. The floor cracked where he had landed and he struggled to stand straight. Then he pulled something out of his pockets and knelt down, seemingly planting it. After a few seconds it dawned on me. The things he had planted were dragon teeth. He was growing Sparti!

I could see one of the Dracaenae approaching with what looked like part of a Huntress uniform. Without thinking I took out my bow and shot it out of her hands, shattering the window in the process. While the Dracaenae was too shocked to do anything, the rest of the room instantly turned in my direction.

"Intruder!" someone called out and I had about 0.5 seconds to dodge the arrows and bullets aimed at my head.

I quickly rolled to the side, coming to a halt in a kneeling position with my bow drawn. I quickly shot a grappling arrow at a huge lamp hanging from the ceiling and swung to the other side of the room.

I had to duck behind a railing to avoid the gunfire that the guards were spraying on me from the other side of the room. I nocked a greek fire arrow and shot it at the wall behind me. It burst into green flames leaving a hole big enough for me to fit through. As the guards were catching up to me, I decided there was no time to climb and took a leap of faith through the hole out of the museum and into the mall.

I quickly turned a corner and tried to blend in with the crowd. I knew I had to warn the others, it would only be a matter of time before the Sparti picked up on our scent or another monster was sent to look for us. I tore across the Mall and burst into the Air and Space Museum, which is where I had told the others I'd meet back up with them in about an hour.

I saw the others on the top-floor balcony and ran up to them.

"You're late" Thalia remarked.

I decided not to comment and instead focused on the important stuff

"Atlas is here! We're being chased by Sparti we have to..." was as far as I got before something invisible slammed into me.

"Ouch" I heard the boy grumble out who was now visible and lying on the ground. It took me a couple seconds to realize I knew him. It was the son of Poseidon who was on the rescue mission in Maine.

"What the Hades are you doing here!" Jay shouted loudly. For some reason he seemed really angry, which was odd because usually he didn't show any emotion at all.

"Nemean Lion... Annabeth... help!" The boy stumbled out.

I looked around, but didn't see anything. Suddenly I heard a little girl screech in delight: "Kitty!"

The Nemean Lion bursted into the room tearing a huge hole through the wall. It stopped in the middle of the room roaring loudly. It was challenging us.

Before I could shout an order Jay stepped forward.

"Stay back, I got this." he said.

Foolish boy, I thought but didn't object.

He jumped down from the balcony landing in front of the Lion. The mist was no longer clouding his appaerence, at least not to us, and he was standing there in full battle armor.

Before he could do anything though, the monster pounced on him. I expected the lion to bury him under it's enormous body, but when it touched him his chestplate glowed in a bright silver light and the lion was knocked away. That was the power of δικαιόσυνος. If the wearer had pure intentions it would protect him from any harm, if he didn't, it would send someone to stop him. That's what must have happened in my dream but it had never happened that way in real life.

I focused my attention back on the fight. The monster was keeping it's distance from Jay, occasionally roaring at him. He took that as his chance to attack. He ignited his sword and charged at the monster. The beast roared once more before swinging it's right paw at him. What happened next shocked me. Jay jumped over the paw, spinning around midair cutting a deep gash into it. I had always thought the Nemean Lions fur was impenetrable but his sword had sliced through it like butter. The lion howled in pain, obviously not used to being hurt. It looked at Jay with hatred before running at him once again. This time however, the son of Zeus was prepared. He was swinging his sword wildy around his body, like a ninja, confusing the monster, but not halting its attack. When it got close enough and roared one last time, Jay jumped up and hurled his blade right into the monsters open mouth.

The Lions eyes widened in shock before he dissolved into golden dust. Jay went to pick up the lions pelt that had remained as a spoil of war. With it in his hands he returned to our group.

"Anyone want this?" he asked like what he'd just done was no big deal at all. Percy was the first to break the silence

"Me, Me, I want it!" he called out. Big mistake, as it turned out.

Jay sent him a murderous glare.

"You..." he said with venom, throwing the pelt to Thalia.

"What the fuck were you thinking following us on this quest! Don't they teach you anything at camp? Do you know what you just did? Do you even care?"

Percy seemed taken aback, actually that wasn't the right word, I was taken aback, Percy looked utterly horrified and I didn't blame him. As Jay was talking he got closer and closer to him. As his anger grew stormclouds formed over his head, his eyes started crackling with electricity and I could hear thunder rumbling in the distance. I felt like any second he'd blast the little boy to pieces. I may not have liked the kid but I wouldn't let that happen. I pushed myself between them looking at Jay defiantly.

"Stop it!" I said. "He's had enough"

I knew, if he wanted to he could have blasted me just as easily but somehow I knew he wouldn't. Luckily I was right. As he looked at me he seemed to realize what he was doing. Slowly the clouds started to dissipate, his eyes turned back to normal and the thunder outside stopped. He quickly backed away and looked at his hands in horror, then he ran out of the museum.

Thalia called after him, but to no avail.

"I'll go after him" I said. "Go back to the van, wait for us there. Take Percy with you for now."

I found Jay in a dark alley, blasting stones trash and anything else he could find.

"What are you doing?" I called out.

"That stupid, *blast* insolent, *blast* irresponsible scullion!" he said, not paying any attention to me.

"Look, I don't necessarily disagree with you, but that doesn't justify what happened back there."

"I told you I was dangerous, I told everyone but nobody ever listens!"

"You never told me that."

"Well it's true. I'm a very emotional person, I let my emotions control me. That's my fatal flaw, that's what makes me so dangerous. I try to shut out my feelings, that's the only way I can control it, but I can't do that forever. Sometimes I'll snap and then someone else will pay the price."

"And Percy following us... made you snap?"

"Of course it did! You of all people should know the dangers of upsetting a prophecy, what the consequences might be, he probably just killed one of us!"

"How?" I asked.

He sighed exasperated.

"Five shall go west to the goddess in chains. That's what the prophecy said. That's what's going to happen! We sent five people, everything was perfectly fine until he showed up. Now we're six. We failed to make the prophecy happen, now someone else, something else will be sent to make it happen."

"Alright, but there's gotta be a way to fix this, right? We can just send him back or something."

"That's not how it works. He already went west with us, the prophecy has been altered, alea iacta est."

"But there's gotta be something we can do."

"Make a sacrifice and pray that the fates will spare us. But it's gotta be something powerful." He thought for a second.

"The pelt!" We said at the same time.

"It's still with Thalia," I said. "she should be back at the van with the others."

I started to leave but I noticed he wasn't coming. I turned around to look at him.

"You coming?"

"Why do you care, Zoe?" he asked looking at the wall.

"Because you're part of the quest." I said in a 'duh' voice.

"I meant in general. You're a huntress, you should hate me for being a man and if not for that, well, there are many other reasons. But that's not what you've been doing. You were always respectful, sometimes even nice to me. Why?"

"Lady Artemis, she told me to... look out for you."

"Alright." he said sounding a little disappointed and started to walk ahead in the direction of the van. Somehow I felt guilty, like I had lied to him but I didn't really know why. I had never really thought about that. Suddenly it clicked in my head.

"That's not the only reason." I said catching up to him.

"I knew another son of Zeus once. He was everything I despised about men. He was proud and boastful. He wasn't a hero to help people, only to help himself. If he saved someone he expected them to praise him for it. If he slayed a monster, he would take the spoil of war and put it somewhere everyone could see it. Girls were only objects to him. He would pretend to care about people, made them fall for him and then dump them once they'd served their purpose. He's the reason I joined the hunt."

I paused for a few seconds before I continued.

"I saw nothing of him in you. You jumped down a cliff to save me and didn't even ask for as much as a thank you. When you killed the Nemean Lion you didn't want the pelt and instead offered to give it to someone else. You're extremely powerful, but you never even talk about that unless someone asks you about it."

He smiled slightly

"Thank you," He said. "but I don't deserve all the credit. A lot of that is just due to my upbringing. I mean, I was pretty much raised by Lady Artemis."

"I figured as much" I mumbled sarcastically, and for the first time I actually heard him laugh.

 **A/N: The "Son of Zeus" Zoe is talking about is obviously Hercules and as hard as it is to believe, he isn't actually a bad guy in this story. I probably just confused the crap out of you with that statement, but you know, if you had any questions, you could always just review and ask them. :P**

 **Updates may slow down a little because my holidays are over and I have to go to school again, sorry about that :(**


	10. Sacrifice

**A/N: So sorry that it took so long. As I said, updates might slow down due to school, but that wasn't the reason this time. I had actually almost finished this entire thing on thursday but it somehow got deleted and I was really frustrated for a few days until I finally motivated myself to write it again. Also I broke my own record again, first time over 3k words. :D**

 _Jay_

As soon as Hermes dropped to the ground, the throne room erupted in panic. The gods started talking amongst themselves, hastily and interrupting eachother mid-sentence. It was like a group of kindergarten children who had just been told there was no dessert today. Some of them argued with one another, some tried to stay calm, but looked like they were about to burst any second and some were just talking to themselves.

It would have been funny if it wasn't so utterly terrifying. What could have a bunch of gods, immortals who rule the world, so completely frightened? Before I could think about it any further my father slammed his bolt into it's pedestal once again.

"Silence!" He thundered and when I say thundered, I mean literally. It souunded like his words were formed from the sound of thunder. That seemed to shut the council up.

"We knew this day would come. Hephaestus has warned us many times that he wa stirring and we listened. We are prepared for this. So when he arrives, we won't run away like the last time. We'll stay and we'll fight and with the full force of the Olympian council we will strike him down.

"With all due respect father," Athena spoke up. "we are in no way prepared for this. The truth is, we were prepared to fight Typhon on his own and with the council at full power. We were prepared to fight the Titans under these same circumstances, but we never stopped to consider that we might have to fight them consecutively, much less at the same time."

"Then it's a good thing we won't have to. The Titans are not our fight, defeating them is not our destiny, it's his." Apollo said pointing at me.

All the gods turned to look at me and my expression probably resembled that of a student who was caught cheating in a test.

"You can't be serious, Apollo. We've been over this! We can't let the fate of the world, our fate, rest on the shoulders of a mere demigod. He is a contingency plan at best." Athena argued.

"Well, if the circumstances are really as bad as you just told us, a contingency plan might be just what we need." Apollo said with a smug smile.

"Enough, both of you!" Zeus shouted. "The threat of the storm giant is imminent and unavoidable. And while the Titans may be close the rising, they're not out yet. We have no other coice but to deal with Typhon now and discuss the matter of the Titans later." He paused dramatically, before continuing to speak. "I, Zeus, Son of Kronos and Rhea, God of Thunder, Lord of the Sky and King of Olympus declare war on the storm giant Typhon and all of the Titans who dare to rise up against Olympus. Everyone suit up, we're going to war!"

Everyone flashed out leaving behind their unique trail. I liked Poseidons ocean breeze, Hades screming skulls and gruesome death scenes however freaked me out. Apollo took Hermes with him, presumably to the infirmary.

My father shrunk down to his mortal size, which was still more than twice as tall as me, to talk to me.

"You must return to the palace immediately. The storm giant has risen and..."

"I know father, I was listening and I'm coming with you!"

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am. You heard Athena, she doesn't trust me to protect Olympus, she thinks I am just a stupid little demigod and I bet she's not the only one. This is my chance to prove myself to them, to show them I more than that and that they can trust me to protect them."

"Jay, listen to me. You have the heart of a hero and the power of a god, but you're also untrained and inexperienced. If you go out there today, you will die. This is not your fight, this is not you destiny. Your time will come and when it does all of the gods will believe in you and you won't be alone."

When I didn't reply, he knew he had convinced me.

* * *

We were still about a mile away when I heard the explosion go off. We both turned in the direction of the explosion, noticing it came exactly from where we had left the van. I looked at Zoe for a second and could see she was thinking the same thing. Neither of us said anything but, as if on cue, we both started running.

The first thing I saw was the smoke, then the fire and finally the crater which was exactly where the van used to be parked. The good news were that apparently all of the quest members had gotten out in time. The bad news? They were currently surrounded by a small army of Sparti and Clarisse looked like she was hurt and was missing a piece of her armor.

I could see Thalia knock one of them back with her shield while using her spear to sweep another one off his legs. Before he could get back up she stepped on his chest sending electricity through his skeletal body. As she was doing that, another one of them had snuck up on her and was preparing to stab her fom behind, but before he could make a move I had drawn my bow and shot a lightning arrow into his forehead.

"You can shoot a bow too? What can't you do?" Zoe asked incredulously.

I smirked internally but kept a straight face.

"Kill these guys permanently, unfortunately." I answered and just as I said that, I saw the Spartoi I'd just shot yank the arrow out and continue his attack.

This time, instead of shooting another arrow, I zapped next to Thalia and delivered a kick flip to the skeleton warrior, sending him crashing into one of his comrades. When a third one swung his sword at me in a low strike I did a side flip over it before landing a roundhouse kick to his face.

"Nice of you to finally show up." Clarisse said sarcastically.

"Well, now that you're here, can you like kill these guys?" Percy asked.

"Frankly, no. Only a child of Hades can." I explained.

"You can slice up the Nemean Lion but these guys are too much for you to handle?"

"The Nemean Lion doesn't reassemble itself after you kill it."

"I know, right? They're like this guy my brother likes, some ninja in red spandex... don't ask." Bianca said.

"Guys, less talking more fighting." Thalia cut in. Just as she said that, Bianca did a backflip over a Spartoi behind her slicing open his ribcage with her hunting knives. As she landed on the other side, the monster erupted in black flames and crumbled to dust.

"You're a daughter of Hades?" Percy asked incredulously, cutting off the arm of another warrior.

"I don't know," Bianca stuttered. "maybe. Either way, I have no clue how I just did that."

"Adrenaline, most likely, but we can't rely on that to work every time. I could teach you how to do it, but not right now." I said before smashing my hand into another skeltons stomach and igniting σχίζω-ἀστεροπή cutting him up from the inside.

"Well if we can't kill them we have to find a way to escape." Thalia concluded before impaling two Sparti with her spear.

"I'll stay behind." Clarisse said grimly. "I'll hold them off long enough for you to escape."

"No way," Percy said. "We're not leaving you behind."

"Think about it, someone has to keep them occupied so that the others can escape. I'm already wounded and they have my scent, I'd only slow you down or even worse lead them to you. I'm by far the most expendable." Clarisse said "I haven't accomplished much in life, even on my own quest you did most of the work, but if I sacrifice myself to save a goddess, that's what I'll be remembered for."

"Clarisse, that's crazy. I know we've had our differences in the past, but I'm not gonna let you commit suicide. There's got to be a better way."

"There isn't." I said. "Clarisse is right and if this is what she wants none of us have the right to stop her."

I paused for a second before continuing.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked her.

She nodded ever so slightly. Then, without another word to any of us, she ran into the biggest bunch of Sparti she could find, shouting all sorts of insults at them.

The plan worked. As the Sparti started to converge on her positon, an opening slowly started to form on the opposite side.

"Go!" I shouted at the others, and slowly they began to move. Backwards at first and probably as slow as they could muster. After a while they turned around and started picking up their pace, but still turned back their heads from time to time. Then they started running, faster and faster, never looking back.

I couldn't see anything, but as Clarisse' insults turned into screams of pain I had a pretty good idea of what was happening.

Everything she had said was true, logically this was by far the best option. I also knew this was the fates way of fixing the prophecy, but it was still hard leaving her behind, knowing full well I could have taken her place and lived.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled, looking back one last time before running after the others.

I hadn't known how long we would be running. I hadn't known where we were running. None of us did, we just ran. Eventually we had reached a train station where we had boarded a freight train called SUNRISE CONVOY. Inside we had met a homeless man standing at a trash can fire between all the luxurious cars. It might have looked funny to someone else but none of us felt like laughing. After a while the man had left giving us some privacy. That's where we are now.

After a few minutes of silence I took the pelt from Thalia before beginning to speak.

"I was gonna offer this to the fates," I said holding up the spoil of war. "to appease them and to beg them to have mercy on us. I guess it's too late for that now." I paused for a second. "I didn't know Clarisse very well, in fact, I didn't know her at all. But I know that in their last moments, people show you who they really are, so if after today anyone asked me who Clarisse was, I would say, without any hesitation, that she was a hero. That's how she will be remembered. To Clarisse!" I said, throwing the pelt into the fire.

"To Clarisse." Everyone repeated.

After another minute of silence Zoe spoke up.

"It's getting late," she said. "we should all get some sleep."

Everyone nodded wordlessly and left, each choosing their own car. As did I.

I got about ten minutes of rest before I was interrupted. When I heard the door open, I saw Zoe slide into the seat next to me. No words were spoken for a few minutes before she decided to break the silence.

"How you holding up?"

"You told me why you don't hate me, but isn't this taking it a little too far?" I said sarcastically.

"I'm just doing my duty, Lady Artemis told me to look out for you, remember?"

"Right, well, you don't have to. You shouldn't have to burden yourself with my problems. It's not like you can help me, anyway." I said turning away from her hoping she would leave. She obviously didn't.

"What happened to you, Jay," she said after a while. "what could happen to a person to leave them so hopeless, so broken?"

"A lot."

"Care to be more specific?"

"No."

We didn't say anything for a while and I was just hoping she might have fallen asleep when she spoke up again.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me, you know."

I sighed exasperated. "It's..."

"Do not say a long story."

"...an extensive story, the telling of which would require too much time."

"Nice try Thundercracker, but you're not getting rid off me that easily."

I sighed again, she was really starting to get on my nerves. What annoyed me the most though was that I was actually considering telling her. I had wanted to talk to someone for a long time now, but I had learned the hard way that I couldn't trust anyone. I don't know why I told her in the end. It's like something came over me and suddenly I couldn't stop myself from talking.

"Many years ago, before I was cursed with immortality, I had a team. They were my friends, my family to an extent. I also had a girlfriend, Lea. During the first Rise of the Titans, we were the elite team leading the charge towards Mount Othrys. I was told that it was my destiny to die to save everyone else, but that's not what happened. When we reached Mount Othrys, my team stayed back to stop the other Titans so that me and Lea could go up the mountain to fight Kronos. We hadn't anticipated how strong the Titan Lord would be. He trapped me in a time spell while he was fighting Lea. She was putting up a good fight, so when I felt the spell fading, I hesitated thinking that if I waited for it to dissipate completely I could suprise him, but in that very moment he whipped out a dagger and stabbed her through the heart. In that very moment, when her lifeless body hit the ground, I could see my entire world, my soul shatter right in front of my eyes. I don't really know what happened after that. I later found out that the rest of my team had been killed by the other Titans, that everyone I cared about was dead. Now, every day I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't hesitated, if I had just attacked him. What would my life be like? Would I even be alive? Would I have died to save everyone else, like I should have? I'll never know."

She was quiet for a while, presumably deep in thought.

"I'm so sorry." she finally said.

It wasn't much, but she probably knew that nothing she could say would make me feel better and I honestly preferred this over the usual 'It's not your fault, there's nothing you could have done.' that I had heard so many times. I kinda expected her to say more, but when I looked to my right I could see her fast asleep in the passenger seat.

It took me a while but I finally fell asleep too.

In my dream I was wearing an old-fashioned Greek tunic and laced leather sandals. The Nemean Lion's skin was wrapped around my back like a cape, and I was running somewhere, being pulled along by a girl who was tightly gripping my hand. It was probably a memory, though I could not remember these exact circumstances.

"Hurry!" she said.

It was too dark to see her face clearly, but I could hear the fear in her voice. "He will find us!" Her voice seemed familiar, but softer and weaker than I remembered, so I couldn't quite place it.

It was nighttime. A million stars blazed above. We were running through tall grass, and the scent of a thousand different flowers made the air intoxicating. It was a beautiful garden, and yet the girl was leading me through it, as if we were about to die.

"I'm not afraid," I tried to tell her.

"You should be!" she said, pulling me along.

She had long dark hair braided down her back. Her silk robes glowed faintly in the starlight. We raced up the side of the hill. She pulled me behind a thorn bush and we collapsed, both breathing heavily. I didn't know why the girl was scared. The garden seemed so peaceful.

"There is no need to run," I told her. The voice sounded familiar but not like my own. "I have bested a thousand monsters with my bare hands."

"Not this one," the girl said. "Ladon is too strong. You must go around, up the mountain to my father. It is the only way."

The hurt in her voice surprised me. She was really concerned, almost like she cared about me.

"I don't trust your father," I said.

"You should not," the girl agreed. "You will have to trick him. But you cannot take the prize directly. You will die.'"

I chuckled. "Then why don't you help me, pretty one?"

"I… I am afraid. Ladon will stop me. My sisters, if they found out… they would disown me."

"Then there's nothing for it." I stood up, rubbing my hands together.

"Wait.'" the girl said.

She seemed to be agonizing over a decision. Then, her fingers trembling, she reached up and plucked a long white brooch from her hair.

"If you must fight, take this. My mother, Pleione, gave it to me. She was a daughter of the ocean, and the ocean's power is within it. My immortal power."

The girl breathed on the pin and it glowed faintly. It gleamed in the starlight like polished abalone.

"Take it," she told me. "Conjoin it with the pelt, make an indestructable Chestplate of it."

I laughed. "A hairpin? How will this help me pretty one?"

"It may not," she admitted. "But it is all I can offer, if you insist on being stubborn."

The girl's voice softened my heart. I reached down and took the hairpin and as it touched the pelt it grew bigger and heavier around me until I was wearing a familiar looking chestplate.

"It fits" I said. "Though I usually don't wear armor. What shall I name it?"

"δικαιόσυνος," the girl said sadly. "The Protector of Justice. Made to protect those who cannot protect themselves."

Before I could thank her, there was a trampling sound in the grass, a hiss like air escaping a tire, and the girl said, "Too late! He is here!"

Before I ran off to fight the monster, I managed to get a clear look at the girls face. I was shocked when I realized that I knew her. It was Zoe Nightshade, the lieutenant of the hunt.

 **A/N: So, Jay finally told someone the truth about his past, well most of it anyway. :P Sorry for just copying the dream from the original, but I saw no point in rewriting it since nothing really changed, aside from the final outcome which I told through Zoes dream in a previous chapter and the few things I edited. I'm not gonna ask for reviews, but you know I want them. (guess I kinda asked now anyway, oh well...) Also, if you were wondering, the ship name for Jay and Zoe is** _ **Jay Z**_ **xD**


	11. Daughter Of Who?

**A/N: Soooooo... It's been a long time, huh? Well I'm back now and I'll hopefully be able to update more regularly again. I don't think anyone really cares why it took me so long to update so I'm not gonna bother you with it here but if you really want to know you can just pm me.**

 _Zoe_

For 2000 years, I was plagued by the same Nightmare almost every night. Hercules would grab me with his huge hands, his hungry eyes boring into me. Then the dream would stop.

Maybe I should be glad that it never showed what happened after, but it ultimately didn't matter. The memory was burned into my mind, I could always remember it like yesterday.

In the beginning I would wake up every night bathed in sweat, sometimes screaming. Back then he even haunted me during the day, every man I saw was wearing his face, everything I touched felt like his cold big hands and every warm smile looked lustful and mad.

It only really changed once I joined the hunt. Lady Artemis helped me with my nightmares, she showed me the constellations, told me their stories, made me believe that with these great heroes watching me, nothing could ever hurt me.

I know now that the constellations have no power in the real world, that she only said it to make me feel better, but even now I find comfort in the stars. I still talk to them if I ever wake up from a nightmare.

Up until a few days ago, I still had the same dream every night but because of lady Artemis I know how to live with it.

But recently something had changed. The dream had gotten weird, going on longer than it was supposed to, showing events that never happened. I didn't know the cause, but I noticed that every time I saw this new dream, I became more convinced that this was how it had really happened. I still remembered the truth, but I figured it was only a matter of time before that would also fade.

This time was no different. Hercules attacked and grabbed me, but he didn't get much further. Before he could really make a move the chestplate started glowing in a bright silver, blinding both of us. I heard something slamm into him, knocking him down but the impact of the attack also made me smash into a wall. As I felt my consciousness fading, the last thing I could see was someone kneeling down in front of me whispering:

"He's not going to get you this time. He's not going to get you ever again." Then everything went black.

As my eyes closed in the dream they opened in the real world.

I was used to waking up early in the morning, packing up my stuff and then preparing everything for the rest of the hunt, that was part of my job as the lieutenant. With Jay around however, things were different. By the time I stood up he was already outside, (outside of the car, not the wagon, just to be clear) had reignited the fire in the trash can and had somehow found four giant pizza boxes, one of which he was currently eating out of.

"Wow! How did you get these?" I asked in a tone that I knew sounded unnatural for me but I couldn't help it, I just love pizza.

"Delivery service" he answered with his mouth full. He looked up for a second, slightly smiling, but when he saw me his smile dropped and he Immediately looked down again.

"I don't think they deliver pizza to moving trains." I said. He didn't reply so I just dropped the conversation, sat down and grabbed a slice of pizza myself. The others soon joined us.

"So," Thalia spoke up "how are we gonna keep moving, and were? The train stopped so that's not an option anymore. Speaking of which, we should probably get out of here before some security personal finds us."

After finishing the pizza, we hopped off the train and started our trek further west. The aqualad said that some guy called Fred had told him about a bus station in a nearby town which we would find a few miles down the road. I obviously knew that the so called "Fred" was actually Apollo so I followed him without question, much to the confusion of Thalia and Bianca.

After walking for a few miles I noticed Bianca was being unusually quiet today.

"It's hard, right?" I said "losing your first ally, even if you barely knew her."

"That's not it." She replied thoughtfully. "I've experienced death before, for some reason it never bothered me that much. Well, I guees I know the reason now, with my dad being hades and all."

"You can't be sure about that, not until you are claimed."

"But Jay said only children of Hades could kill these skeleton dudes."

"Yes, but..."

"Are you saying he lied?"

"No... it's just... there's something special about you Bianca, I just don't know what it is yet..." I said, trailing off at the end.

"Look guys," the boy shouted from ahead "we're almost there!"

It was true, I could see the next town in the distance, what worried me however was the huge junkyard blocking our path.

One glance at Jay confirmed my suspicions, since he looked just as uneasy as I was feeling.

Despite my worries, I followed the rest of the group into the junkyard.

On our way we walked past all sorts of things. There were ancient greek helmets, rusty hammers, silver shurikens, broken bows, medieval longswords, egyptian kopeshes, machine guns, an old airplane missing it's wings, and some other things I couldn't recognize.

"The cursed junkyard," I said loud enough for everyone to hear "Everything thrown away by the gods across the ages eventually ends up here."

I noticed Jay staring at something to our left, I was about to comment on it when Bianca yelled:

"Look, over there! Looks like a huge metal toe!"

"Don't touch that!" I ordered, but it was already too late.

Right next to Bianca the ground started to rumble making her trip and almost fall. She stumbled towards us as the junk behind her was being pushed aside and a huge bronze giant in greek battle armor rose out of the piles of scrap.

He was as tall as a small mountain. He looked down at us, and his face was deformed. The left side was partially melted off. His joints creaked with rust, and written on his chest were the words "DANGER! ROBOT MOVES WITHOUT WARNING: KEEP AWAY!" which seemed more like it was making fun of us than actually trying to help. "Someone took something!" Thalia yelled looking particlary at Percy, as was I.

"I didn't do anything." He said raising his hands in surrender, but I wasn't buying it.

"Whatever it is boy, just drop it!" I said angrily.

"I swear, it wasn't me. How do we know you didn't pick anything up?" I was about ready to slap him at this point but Bianca interjected.

"Zoe wait," she said with a pained expression "It was me, I wanted to give this to my brother, It's the only one he doesn't have."

She was holding up some silly action figure that seemed to resemble how the mortals imagined hades would look like.

"Drop it!" I ordered her. With tears in her eyes she it slid out of her hand hitting the ground with a bling and the automaton went stiff. I was about to breathe a sigh of relief when it suddenly started back up and the first step in our direction.

"What's going on now?" Bianca cried.

"I honestly don't know." Thalia said drawing her spear and shield "Maybe it was already too late?"

It sounded more like a question than an answer, but nobody interjected.

I quickly drew my bow and started firing arrows at the machine but most bounced off harmlessly and even those that got stuck between some chinks in it's armor didn't seem to do anything.

Bianca was also firing some arrows but I could see her head wasn't in the game.

Luckily Jay managed to use the wind to hurl himself at the monster swinging his blade at it's mechanical knee in a downward arc. He was visibly shocked when it just bounced off. One could see the "What?" pretty much written all over his face, it would have been funny, had the situation not been so dire. Panicked, he looked up at the machine before quickly backing away.

"Any ideas how to kill this thing?" He shouted, avoiding a low strike by the automaton.

"Run?" Thalia suggested. "Spread out, he can't follow all of us."

It seemed to be as good a plan as any so I followed her orders for now. I ended up behind a pile of rubbish, right next to Bianca. The machine had decided to follow Thalia who had hit it with a few electric shocks from her speer, which at least seemed to annoy the bronze giant.

Since she had run the opposite way, we had the chance to exmine the thing for any potential weak spots like an exhaust port or something. Suprisingly, it was Percy who found something.

"Look, at the bottom of his right foot," he shouted "there's some kind of maintenance opening!"

It was true, there was a hatch with the words "FOR MAINTENANCE ONLY" printed around it. I knew we would need someone agile to get in there, I was by far our best bet. I turned to Bianca to tell her to cover me, only to find out she wasn't there. I looked around frantically but I couldn't see her anywhere. Then a horrible thought hit me. I looked at the giant only to see my theory confirmed.

The automaton was stumbling around aimlessly, sparks flying out of him at various points. Someone had gotten inside and that someone was Bianca!

Panicking I ran up to the robot, waving my arms around and pointing at the thing so that the others would notice me and understand what's going on.

Jay's eyes widened as he seemed to catch on. I could see him turn into lightning flying at the automaton but then suddenly...

 _ **BOOOM!**_

"Bianca! No!" I screamed as the robot exploded in a huge blast, sending Jay flying into a big pile of junk.

I started running even faster to where the machine stood a few seconds ago. Pieces of scrap were flying everywhere but I didn't care. This seemed wrong, she was supposed to lead us, she couldn't die. It was the only reason I had even risked bringing her along, because I thought she was save.

I found her body next to the right half of the giants face which had the words "TALOS PRO" printed on the inside, with the ending being cut off.

She was suprisingly rather unharmed, but glowing in a silver light, almost blinding me. What shocked me the most though was the symbol above her head. It was a silver crescent moon with a black skull int the middle. The symbols of Lady Artemis and Lord Hades.

 **A/N So that's it, pretty short, I know but I wanted to end it on this. Again sorry that you had to wait so long but I promise I'll get to the next chapter right away (like literally, I'll start writing it directly after I finsih this) Feel free to guess what's going on with Bianca (hint: it's really complicated) because I can't promise it will be revealed all too soon. If you need something to read while you wait for the next chapter you can check out the One-Shot "Goodbye" on my profile which is canon to this story btw. Also more support would probably prevent a huge break like this from happening again. I love this story but it's still hard to motivate myself to write if I feel like nobody else cares. Also prepare for drama next chapter.**


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